Friday, July 9, 2010

21 day makeover continued

Continuing on with the ERE 21 Day Makeover are days 15 – 21. As I mentioned in my other 21 Day posts which are all here I already do many of these things and have been implementing those that I don’t.

Day 15 is an overview of the first 14 days. The most important things for saving money are discussed in the first 14 days. Really the 3 major ones are housing, transport and food as these are the areas people spend the most on usually. I am still looking for a bike for free or super cheap.

Day 16 discusses buying quality and only having what you use. I am a big one for quality. I discussed it here. I am slowly switching lots of things over to better quality items as things break and die. I used to buy cheap because I thought I was getting a “great deal” but really cheap and crappy is bad. Buying quality at a good price is far better than an inferior product only to have to replace it over and over again instead of paying a bit more for quality in the first place. This is why I am slowly getting a classic wardrobe together and saving up for a few other good quality items like a Nikon camera.

Day 17 is about maintaining and repairing things. It’s really not as hard as people thing to take care of what you have and often to fix things. Some things require professional help, but on the most part you should be able to do lots of things yourself. One of the many great things about the net is you can find out how to fix or do pretty much anything just by Googling it.

Some of the more simple things you could learn and do are sewing so you can hem things, fix small holes, refashion things etc... If you can learn basic woodworking it will come in very hand for lots of repairs around the home. Basic car maintenance is another awesome one to learn. Changing oil and tyres, knowing when and how to check things etc... will ensure smoother and more efficient running of your car.

Maintaining and repairing will save you a fortune for a small amount of work or financial outlay for tools in the beginning.

Day 18 join a challenge is a good one. It gives you something to do, a purpose and a focus. You can make your own up or join one. There are lots around like no spending for a year, no new clothes for a year, groceries under $100 for a family of 4, a triathlon, marathon etc... you get the idea.

I set challenges for myself all the time. I mean, this whole blog is a personal challenge! I like them, as they are goals you set, work towards and achieve.

Day 19 is getting rid of your TV addiction. I wrote a post about reasons not to watch TV here.

Day 20 is buy classics. This is along the lines of buying quality as mentioned above. If something is a classic, it will stand the test of time and very likely when you go to sell it sell for similar to what you originally paid.

Day 21 investing early for retirement part 2. This is one of my big plans. I have set up an account to trade in shares, but I also plan on using property to invest. There are different ways of investing for both, so it’s really is up to you and what you feel comfortable with. He goes into more details with shares, and since I have not had any experience in actually trading, I don’t feel right saying too much about it.

Overall I think the 21 Day makeover is a good kick up the butt to get into savings gear. Remember it is for extreme early retirement, so if you don’t feel up to being as vigilant as he is, that’s cool. You can check it out here. Just scroll down and on the left hand side is all 21 days, just click on the link you want! Enjoy.